The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Carnation plant, botanically known as Dianthus caryophyllus and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name xe2x80x98Sunflor Surprisexe2x80x99.
The new Carnation is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Aalsmeer, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program is to develop new compact Carnation cultivars suitable for container production with attractive flower color and early flowering.
The new Carnation originated from a cross made by the Inventor of the Dianthus caryophyllus cultivar xe2x80x98Rossoxe2x80x99, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with the Dianthus caryophyllus cultivar xe2x80x98D. Japanxe2x80x99, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar xe2x80x98Sunflor Surprisexe2x80x99 was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross in a controlled environment in Aalsmeer, The Netherlands, in 1991.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken at Aalsmeer, The Netherlands, has shown that the unique features of this new Carnation are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Sunflor Surprisexe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Sunflor Surprisexe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Purple-colored flowers.
2. Compact, upright and mounded plant habit.
3. Good basal branching with about 10 lateral branches developing after pinching.
4. Dark green leaves.
5. Fragrant flowers.
6. Good postproduction longevity.
Plants of the new Carnation flower later than plants of the female parent, the dark red-flowered cultivar xe2x80x98Rossoxe2x80x99. Plants of the new Carnation are more compact than plants of the male parent, the pink-flowered cultivar xe2x80x98D. Japanxe2x80x99.
The new Carnation can be compared to the cultivar xe2x80x98Sunflor Tritonxe2x80x99 (U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 09/379,262). However, in side-by-side comparisons conducted by the Inventor in Aalsmeer, The Netherlands, plants of the new Carnation differ from plants of the cultivar xe2x80x98Sunflor Tritonxe2x80x99 in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Carnation are more compact, grow slower and flower later than plants of the cultivar xe2x80x98Sunflor Tritonxe2x80x99.
2. Plants of the new Carnation have smaller flowers than plants of the cultivar xe2x80x98Sunflor Tritonxe2x80x99.
3. Plants of the new Carnation and the cultivar xe2x80x98Sunflor Tritonxe2x80x99 differ in flower color.